On Tuesday, May 17, Berne-Knox-Westerlo
residents will vote on a $20,917,977 budget for the 2011-12 school year.
The proposed spending plan is $1,276,000 higher than the 2010-11 budget
and calls for a projected tax levy increase of 3.51 percent.
Voters will also decide on a bus proposition and vote on candidates for two open school board seats.
This year’s budget development process included input from the community through the Budget Advisory Committee and two community budget forums held in March, where residents were given a chance to share their thoughts on the proposed cuts and possible tax implications.
While BKW did receive an increase in state aid for the 2011-12 school year, the majority of those funds are earmarked for repayment of the debt incurred from the capital project and will have minimal impact on the district’s program budget.
Even with the increased state aid and additional monies from sources such as the district’s fund balance, BKW still needed to cut $284,001 from the budget to reach the desired tax levy.
Included in the proposed budget is a reduction of 3.4 full-time equivalent teaching staff positions, as well as the addition of an elementary AIS teacher and a director of special education.
“We had to decide what we could do in terms of
minimizing a tax levy increase without significantly impacting
programs,” Superintendent Dr. Paul Dorward said. “When developing the
proposed budget, we remained focused on our mission to provide the best
education possible to the students of BKW not only for next year, but
for future years as well.”
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